I Had Cancer, A Social Network For Fighters, Survivors And Supporters (Private Beta Invites)

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Social networks for cancer patients and survivors are not new. There’s the KnowCancer Community and Planet Cancer for younger survivors, for instance. Now there is I Had Cancer, a new resource for cancer patients, survivors, and friends and family who are supporters. The site just launched in private beta. If you have cancer or know somebody who does, we have 250 invites that you can sign up for on the beta site using the code: C55484. (People can also sign up for the beta on the regular site and will be notified when that launches).

I Had Cancer was founded by a team out of Squeaky Wheel Media in New York City: Mailet Lopez, Robert Boyle (who also created local Q&A app Crowdbeacon), and Anthony Del Monte (president and founder of Sqweaky Wheel). Lopez is a survivor of breast cancer, and she started out wanting to create a blog for other cancer survivors called I Had Cancer. But that evolved into a full-fledged community support site where survivors and family members can share their cancer stories and help others who are going through the same experience.

The site allows members to create profiles, tell their stories, and identify what type of cancer they battled against. You can find other members by location, cancer type, year diagnosed, age, or gender. The site also features discussion boards with questions and answers. Those are the public-facing parts of the site. Once you find someone with a similar experience or type of cancer, you can connect invite them to your Circle, and if they agree, you both can share more private news and messages. It is a mutual follow like Facebook, not a one-way follow like Google+ (Although it otherwise shares a similar Circles concept).

The startup has raised $750,000 in an angel round. You can learn more by watching these videos here and here.